Fire extinguishing typically involves either the temporary creation of an atmosphere that is incapable of sustaining combustion within the volume to be protected, or applying a stream of extinguishing agent to the base of the flame. Fire extinguishing is commonly practiced using portable fire extinguishers.
One fire extinguishing method in widespread use at present includes the introduction of volatile halocarbons (Halons), such as Halon 1301 or Halon 1211, for example, into the volume to be protected. Halons are known to interfere with the chemical reactions taking place in the flame and effectively inhibit the flame. Nevertheless, Halons suffer from a fundamental disadvantage; namely, they are known to interact with ozone, which leads to the destruction of the earth's ozone layer.
Ecologically benign fire extinguishing powders (dry powders) based on mineral salts, such as carbonates, bicarbonates, alkali metal chlorides, ammonium phosphates, and the like have been found to provide alternative volume fire extinguishing. These dry powders could successfully act to replace halocarbons or to enhance the performance of halocarbons or other commonly used extinguishing agents, such as CO2 and the like. Dry powders possess a volume and local fire extinguishing effectiveness at least equal to that of halocarbons, yet are ecologically safe and nontoxic.
Fire extinguisher recharging equipment and methods for Halons and dry powders are known in the art. These conventional methods have been developed for controlled environments. However, fire extinguisher recharging equipment that operates in a variety of uncontrolled environments and that can be used for recharging containers with dry powders and Halons is needed for both civil and military purposes. Conventional systems often cannot satisfy sensitive mission capabilities for military purposes, for example. Further, conventional systems for recharging include multiple pieces of equipment representing a logistic impossibility for deployment with a battle group. Many of these pieces of equipment would not be mission capable, at least in that the commercial dry powder hoppers are cumbersome to use and are open to the atmospheric elements, thereby exposing dry powder to moisture.
Thus, there is an urgent need for a fire extinguishing recharging equipment that is mission capable and can encompass all aspects of the recharging process, including the discharging of full containers, and that can be modified for existing Halon units already in the field.